When do the WNBA playoffs begin? Teams, format, schedule...
Just over a week remains in the WNBA’s regular season and teams are gearing up for a final push to the finish line as the LV Aces look for a three-peat.
The biggest regular season in the 28 year history of the WNBA comes to a close next week and there will be teams looking to sneak into the postseason while others seek to improve their playoff seeding before September 19th. Rookie sensations Angle Reese and Caitlin Clark are currently in playoff position will be looking to knock off the Las Vegas Aces who are seeking a third title in a row.
Playoff preview
Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever have been the talk of the WNBA in the second half of the season as the rookie seems to have elevated her game and her team into playoff position. Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky are hanging on to the 8th spot by a thread, as they try to fight off the Dream and the Mystics for the final spot in the playoffs.
Everyone will be trying to dethrone the league’s leading scorer Aja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces who are currently the four seed with a record of 22-13. Coming into the final week of the season it’s Breanna Stewart and the New York Liberty who are in first place overall, and could just about seal home court advantage with a win in one of their next four games.
The 12 team league will be dwindled down to just eight teams for the postseason as the top eight qualify for the playoffs. There is no slicing the playoffs by Conferences, which means it’s not the top four from the East and top four in the West. It just so happens that as of today, September 11th, the top four teams in each conference would be moving on to the playoffs, but that’s solely by coincidence.
How it works
Everything else is pretty standard. The No. 1 seed plays the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed plays the No. 7 seed, the No 3 seed plays the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 and No 5 seed with meet in the first round.
The first round is a best-of-three series in which the higher seed of the two teams play hosts in Game 1 and Game 2. Should the series stretch to a third game, then the lower seed will be at home for the decisive Game 3. The semifinals and final are five game series that the higher seed host Game 1, 2 and 5 if necessary.
The postseason will begin on the 22nd of September, but there is still plenty to be settled in the final week and some change of the season. That all leads up to the WNBA Final which will be played during the middle of October with the 20th being the date of a potential 5th and decisive game.